‘ Time to set up a goat industry board’

STAKEHOLDERS in the goat industry have called on the relevant authorities to establish a regulatory board that will among other things protect farmers’ interests, establish and strengthen standards for the industry and ensure consistent compliance with them.

“The establishment of a body such as the Pig Industry Board in the goat sector has been a policy position that farmers are calling for from the policy dialogue meetings we hold with them,” Zimbabwe Agriculture Growth Plan communications and policy specialist Mr Kevin Maenzanise said yesterday.

Mr Maenzanise said the establishment of a governing body was critical in enhancing the domestic agri-business environment through stakeholder organisational development and capacity building for strategic planning and evidence-based policy dialogue with the Government to get the national policy and regulatory frameworks right for growth and development of the goat and meat industry.

A board will assist in improving production and organisational efficiencies and market competitiveness in the commercial supply of safe, quality-assured goat and other meat products from environmentally sustainable goat ventures thereby achieving sanitary and order.

Mr Maenzanise observed that although the need for a board was still very much a notion, they had relayed the idea to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.

“From a goat value chain scoping study we undertook in 2019, we found out that it was the least represented in terms of policy at national level. This means that goat spe